After Hogwarts
by MarsBars031
Summary: James's 'official' proposal to Lily while they are out on the Hogwarts grounds, dreaming about their future. Cute and somewhat fluffy oneshot.


It was early evening on a day in early April at Hogwarts. The sky was mixed with shades of deep pink and orange over the horizon while the sun sank below it.

Lily and James were the last two students out on the grounds. The couple was striding along the lake's edge toward the castle after a Saturday afternoon visit with Hagrid.

James was talking about something funny that had happened during a Quidditch practice a few days before. He was gesturing with his right hand while holding Lily's hand in his left. James was somewhat aware that his girlfriend wasn't paying much attention to his story, but he didn't really mind.

Lily was lost in thought while listening to James's voice. She wasn't hearing his individual words, but just lightly listening to the sound of his voice as he walked with her. The Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests were on her mind, as they were quite a lot these days. N.E.W.T.s were quickly approaching, and Lily wanted to be prepared. She had to get high scores if she wanted to reach her high goals after Hogwarts.

_After Hogwarts_

It had suddenly hit her. She had gone over her career plan for after Hogwarts in her head many times. But now, the thought of after Hogwarts had struck her during a calm moment with James and something new had occurred to her.

What would she and James do after Hogwarts?

Of course, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had always joked about the pair getting married and having sixteen children, but in all the commotion and pressures of schoolwork, exams, and Head Girl duties, Lily had somehow never thought of her future with her favorite Marauder.

"James," Lily suddenly interrupted, "What will you and I do after Hogwarts?"

"What?" James said, looking a little puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"I mean after we've graduated and finished school. What will you and I do?"

"Lily, you've got your perfect plan. You know what you're going to do and you'll succeed easily. I have a general plan. It's nowhere near as detailed as yours, but I'll survive just fine. Stop worrying, everything will work out."

Lily was flattered at her boyfriend's optimism at support. But, all the same, she still needed answers for her real question.

"No, James. You and I, as a couple."

"Oh," he said, finally getting the message. "We'll get married," he told her, as if it were obvious.

This announcement surprised Lily. Since when had James planned on something she hadn't yet thought about? It was almost scary, she wasn't sure if she was ready for this. "Wait a second-before you go picking out china patterns-that wasn't in my career plan!"

"Lily, my dear, a career plan covers your career, not your _love life_," said James with a sly look.

Lily was getting very confused. How could she not have thought of this? She was known for planning everything, but somehow she'd skipped over something very important.

They were getting close to the castle, but it wasn't yet dark outside. Lily definitely needed to talk with James, so she let go of his hand and sat down at the water's edge, indicating for him to do the same.

"James," she began, "I'm just not sure if really want to get married too quickly. I think perhaps it would be best if we put it off for a few years."

"Why?" James said simply. He seemed a bit surprised that she, or anyone for that matter, would want to postpone a marriage to the James Potter.

"Well…er…" why did she want to wait? It had seemed like the right idea a moment ago, but when asked why, Lily didn't quite know. "Uh…There's Voldemort. We've talked about joining the Order of the Phoenix for quite some time now. We'll both be busy with that. And then there's out careers to think about! We'll need to concentrate on our careers."

James calmly told her, "Lil, we can help the fight against Voldemort together if we're married. We'd be The Potters: Voldy Fighters Anonymous!"

"It's not anonymous if we start the title with 'The Potters'," Lily pointed out automatically, although the name did sound kind of cool.

"Yeah, yeah," James said, playfully rolling his eyes at her. "My point is that marriage would make us stronger. We can think about our jobs together, giving each other advice and helping out. We'd be so happy together. Marriage would be a great adventure." James smiled at her. "We belong with each other, Evans. There's no denying it."

Lily smiled back. James was right, there was no real reason not to get married. Happy images were flying through her mind. The couple getting a small, cute home, throwing a dinner party for close friends, going to Order meetings together, her cooking Christmas dinner while James and Sirius joked around in the kitchen. Flash forward a few years and maybe there would even be a small child or two running around…The thoughts made her feel very content. This happy little life with James seemed perfect.

"Alright, _Potter_," she said, teasingly calling him by his surname as he had done to her. "I'll marry you."

"So that's it then? We're officially engaged?" James replied happily.

"I wouldn't go right to 'officially engaged', but I'd say we're headed towards marriage one day. Besides, I want to be formally proposed to."

"Oh, okay," James paused and then said, in a falsely deep and strong voice, _"Lily, will you marry me?" _

Lily burst out laughing. James didn't get the response he'd been hoping for.

"What?" said James, shocked, "I thought that's what you wanted!"

"You thought I wanted you to say a few words in that funny voice?" Lily said, still stifling giggles. "No, James, I want you to propose to me in a romantic, sweet, real way when I'm not expecting it, and not in that weird voice," she added as an afterthought.

"I get it. Okay, sometime when you're least expecting it, wham! I'll propose to you."

"Good," Lily replied, and she gently rested her head on his shoulder. They lay there like that for a few minutes. James with his arms draped around his girlfriend, Lily against his chest, enjoying his strong Quidditch muscles.

"So, Lily, we're going to be married, eh?" James was saying, once again knowing that his future bride wasn't listening, but instead drifting off to sleep. "It'll be fun, marriage will. We can have a nice house that you'll decorate beautifully. Moony, Padfoot, and Wormtail can come over and we'll all laugh and have more great times together. We'll wake up next to each other every morning and eat breakfast together." James sighed. It really would be wonderful. "Then, when we're ready," he went on dreamily, "Prongs Junior or Little Lily will join us. Now _that _will be a whole other adventure. This whole thing is kind of snowballing. No matter. We can handle it. Or, at least you can, and then I'll help keep you calm." James smiled; he could easily picture Lily as a mother.

At this point, James had an idea. He looked down at Lily. She was clearly asleep. He gently pulled back his arms and laid her smoothly in the grass. Next, he pulled up a couple stalks of grass and tried to tie them together. It was quite difficult; as luck would have it, it didn't seem as if pieces of grass were meant to be tied together.

James kept trying anyway, and finally he succeeded. The result was a small, somewhat sloppy looking loop. To James though, it was a temporary engagement ring. He'd propose now. Lily couldn't be expecting it exactly; after all, she was asleep. The sun was gone now, but the beautifully colored clouds remained so it still wasn't too dark. James looked at his watch. They had another few hours before they had to be back in Gryffindor tower. Now was the perfect time for a proposal.

_What could be more romantic than a gorgeous sunset, a quiet lake, a spectacular castle, and a giant squid?_ James thought. _Okay, maybe the squid's not exactly romantic, but Lily doesn't have a problem with it. _ James recalled an incident in fifth year when she'd even said she would choose the sea monster over him for a date. He smiled, thinking about how much they'd changed since that day.

James got down on one knee next to Lily's sleeping form. He nudged her and whispered soothing words to wake her up. She started to stir and James tried to look manly and appealing while holding the grass ring gently.

Lily sat up and looked at James skeptically. He had an odd, almost nervous look on his face. Then, she realized what he was about to do and didn't know what to think. She was torn between excitement and disappointment that he couldn't have waited a while to surprise her with a grand proposal. Her mind was buzzing with all sorts of different thoughts until she finally calmed herself.

"Okay…um…er…Lily," James began shakily. He knew this was important to Lily, and realized it was rather important to him too. It had to go well. "Well, you wanted a surprising, sweet, romantic proposal. I'm hoping this is all of those things, but I'm very sorry if it isn't.

"You know I've loved you for a very long time. There's no time I can remember when my main focus wasn't on you. I was open about, being 'irritating' as you've told me before by constantly asking for a date. You, on the other hand, have only warmed up to me in the past year. Although, I think you've always loved me deep down," he added with a smirk.

Lily listened to him (hearing the individual words) and loved to hear everything he was saying. This was, as he had hoped, sweet, romantic, and somewhat unexpected. Lily had told him not to try again tonight, and she'd expected him to do as she'd said. Lily really hadn't anticipated him proposing tonight, so it _was_ surprising.

"We make a great couple. Marriage will suit us perfectly. So, Lily Evans, I am asking your hand in marriage." James said, presenting the grass ring. "I made you this as a temporary engagement ring. You don't have to wear, but I just thought maybe you'd want to have some sort of ring. Next Saturday the students will be allowed to go to Hogsmeade, and if you say yes tonight I'll buy you a perfect ring at the jewelry store there." James paused. Lily was looking at him, a small smile playing across her beautiful face. James wished she would tell him yes or no, but she wasn't speaking. "So, er…what do you say?"

Lily's small smile broke into a huge grin right before she tackled James and kissed him, then broke away and said, "Yes."

"Excellent," James said, putting the grass ring on her finger. It fit almost perfectly, although it wouldn't last too long. Lily smiled down at it. He kissed her again. They kissed for a few moments, and then broke apart. The newly engaged couple went back to the way they were sitting earlier, with Lily up against James's chest and his arms draped around her. Together, they watched the last few bits of light disappear.

"We'll have a great life together, you know," James said serenely.

"I know."

"We can have a beautiful house somewhere in the country, with a few Muggles around and hopefully a couple other wizards. We can have a Quidditch pitch near the house and a big library with a grand collection of books. Of course, we'll have to turn the attic into a room for Sirius, preferably with a separate entrance and staircase, so he won't be parading various girlfriends through our nice clean home."

"Sirius will have his _own_ place. I won't have him intruding in on our life."

"Aw, come on, Lil, he'll practically live at our place anyway…" James said, with a pathetic imitation of a sad face. Lily giggled at him. They rested there for a few more moments, until James remembered something.

"Oi!" James cried, letting go of Lily and standing up, "We've got to get up to the castle and tell them!" Lily knew that he wanted to go back to the school to tell his closest friends that he was now "officially" engaged. She couldn't blame him for being so excited about it; she was anxious to start spreading the news and being congratulated as well.

"Alright, James, let's go."

Together they walked hurriedly back up to the castle to spread the news of their engagement, once again hand in hand.


End file.
